The Shooting
by Traw
Summary: "I…I shot him." Kensi gasped as the reality of what she had done sunk in. "Ohh God, Callen, I shot Deeks!"
1. Chapter 1

**Prologue**

She leaned back against the wall, grateful for its support as she fingered the gold detective badge and LAPD I.D. she held in her hand, her fingers avoiding the sticky, burgundy stain that marred the I.D's photo. She closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the cold wall behind her, unable to stop the tears that rolled down her cheeks or stop the soft sob that escaped from her lips.

She could still the look of disbelief and surprise on his face as he slowly looked down, blinking in amazement at the red stain spreading quickly across the front of his shirt before he looked back up at her with a confused look on his face. His lips moved wordlessly asking 'Why?' before his eyes rolled back in his head and his legs gave out from under him, toppling him heavily to the ground.

She could not remember dropping her gun or even running the few feet that separated them, but she did remember placing her shaking hand against the side of her partner's neck and the soft prayer of thanks she had whispered through her own shocked lips as she felt a weak pulse drum under her fingertips. She could still hear her own softly whispered words begging for his forgiveness as she tore open his blood soaked shirt, exposing the jagged bullet wound beneath. She choked on a sob as she remembered seeing the damage the bullet had caused … her bullet…

"Kensi!"

She jumped as she heard her name called and reluctantly pushed herself away from the support of the wall as Callen and Sam hurried down the corridor to where she was waiting.

"Any word yet?" Sam asked softly as he looked towards the closed operating room doors.

She shook her head, not yet trusting her voice to answer.

"What happened?" Callen probed gently.

"I…I shot him." She gasped as the reality of what she had done sunk in. "Ohh God, Callen, I shot Deeks!" she sobbed as Callen's arms wrapped around her and pulled her into a comforting embrace.


	2. Chapter 2

AN- I would love to thank everyone who has read, reviewed, followed and faved this story. You guys are awesome. Thank you so much.

xxxxxx

Waiting until Kensi took a small sip from the mug of hot coffee she held in her trembling hands, Callen glanced across at Sam, who was standing silently beside him, before he returned his attention to the distraught agent now sitting on the chair, "What happened, Kens?"

"I…I don't know." Kensi answered truthfully, holding the mug tighter in attempt to help warm up her hands as she tried to control the shivering.

"You said that you shot Deeks, not that I can blame you," Sam frowned, "but do you want to explain to us the reason why?"

"I…I don't know why. One minute I was following Deeks back to the car and the next minute I had my gun in my hand and I was aiming at my partner's back as I pulled the trigger…" Kensi swallowed hard, blinking away the tears as she stared up at her two colleagues, her face drained of color as she added almost in a whisper, "And I have no idea why I did it!"

Sam's frown deepened as he glanced at G who seemed to be digesting what Kensi had just told them. Turning back to Kensi, he asked, "How were things between you and Deeks? Was there any tension between the two of you?"

"No." she answered a little too quickly before she looked down into the mug of thick black sludge that the hospital tried to pass of as coffee. Taking a deep breath, she slowly shook her head before she looked back up at her two NCIS colleagues, "No…not…not really… I mean Deeks was being…Deeks," she shrugged, "We…we had just finished eating lunch and we were going… to …to question Nelson…" Her voice trailed off as she slowly looked back down at the mug she held in her hand.

"Kens?" Callen asked softly as he stepped closer to the young woman, not liking how pale she had suddenly become. "Kensi, are you OK?" he asked again as he knelt in front of her and reached for the mug of hot coffee, gently taking it from her hands before it spilled into her lap and placed it on the table beside her.

Looking up into G's concerned face, Kensi blinked slowly and frowned. "I…I don't know…I…I feel…kinda weird…" she murmured before she collapsed forward into his arms.

Catching Kensi as she tumbled forward, Callen gently lowered her to the floor before he quickly placed his fingertips against the side of her throat, releasing a breath he had not realized he was holding, as he felt the soft throb of a pulse.

Turning, Sam ran to the door, stepping out into the corridor as he yelled, "We need some help in here!" Satisfied his call for help had caught the attention of the medical staff, he turned and hurried back across the room before kneeling down beside Callen and Kensi. "How is she?"

"She's alive." Callen answered succinctly as he rose to his feet and moved aside as the doctor and a nurse entered the room and hurried across to where Kensi was laying on the floor, kneeling down beside her.

NCIS LA … NCIS LA … NCIS LA

Opening the waiting room door, Hetty entered the room and silently closed the door firmly behind her before she looked at the two agents in the room. "How are they?"

"Deeks is still in surgery and the doctors are still examining Kensi." Callen answered as he pushed himself away from the wall where he had been leaning as Hetty crossed the room and sat down. "We are still waiting to be updated on both of their conditions."

"So what happened, Agent Callen?" Hetty looked up expectantly at her lead agent, waiting for an explanation.

"Not sure yet." Callen answered honestly as he looked down at the small woman, "We received a report from LAPD that Deeks and Kensi had been involved in some sort of a shooting and that Deeks had been wounded. When we got here, Kensi told us that Deeks had taken a round to the back…" he paused and shifted uneasily as he threw a quick, nervous glance towards Sam.

"Go on please, Mr Callen." Hetty ordered softly, aware that Callen seemed reluctant to continue.

"Kensi also told us that she had been the person who had shot him."

"Oh dear, I see." Hetty frowned, "Did she say why?"

Sam shook his head, "She claimed that she doesn't know. She said that one minute she was following Deeks to the car and the next minute her gun was in her hand and she was shooting him."

"They had just eaten lunch."

"So it's possibly something could have been slipped into something she ate or drank." Hetty concluded, looking back at Callen. "Do we know where they had lunch?"

Callen shook his head but anything he was about to say was silenced as the door opened and he turned to watch as the surgeon entered the small room.

The surgeon frowned and looked around, searching for the young female agent who had accompanied his patient into the ER. He had been told by the nurse outside that the detective's colleagues were waiting in this waiting room. "Detective Deeks?"

"How is he, Doc?" Callen asked as he, Hetty and Sam met him halfway across the room.

Hetty quickly introduced everyone to the surgeon before explaining that she was listed as Deeks' next-of-kin, surprising Callen and Sam with her revelation.

Tugging free the surgical mask that still hung around his neck, the surgeon canted towards the chairs that lined the wall as he suggested, "Let's take a seat."

Obeying the doctor's subtle order, the three NCIS agents sat down and waited for the doctor to sit and begin his report.

"Detective Deeks' condition is critical. The bullet entered his back, just below the shoulder and passed through his lung, collapsing it before exiting through the front of his chest resulting in massive hemorrhaging. We have managed to stabilize him and repair some of the damage but Detective Deeks will require further surgery when he stabilizes a little more and is a little stronger. He is currently in recovery but we will be moving him up to ICU as soon as we are able to."

"So he will recover?" Hetty asked cautiously.

"The next twenty-four hours are critical, if he can make it through those, he has a chance." The surgeon answered quietly as he slowly rose to his feet, "Now if you will excuse me, I really need to get back to my patient. I will send a nurse in to tell you when we have him settled into the ICU."

"Thank you, Doctor." Hetty said softly as the surgeon nodded and left the room.

Rising from her seat, Hetty headed towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Callen frowned as he watched Hetty head to the door.

"Why My Callen, we have found out Detective Deeks' condition, now I am going to find out Agent Blye's condition as well." she announced as she walked out the door.


	3. Chapter 3

Looking up from the orders he was scribbling into the patient's chart, the doctor watched as the tiny woman stepped through the opening of the curtains and walked across to the side of the bed. "I'm sorry, you can't be in here…" he began, only to be silenced as the woman pulled out her ID from her pocket and flashed it at him.

"Lange, NCIS," Hetty introduced herself as she returned her ID back into her pocket and canted her head towards Kensi, "and this young lady is my agent, Agent Blye. And I would like an update on her condition, please."

"Of course." the doctor nodded as he handed the chart he had just finished writing in across to the nurse before asking her to arrange for the patient's admission before he turned back to the small woman and tilted his head towards the curtain opening as he suggested. "Let's go talk somewhere a little more private."

NCIS LA … NCIS LA … NCIS LA

Closing the door to his office behind him, the doctor quickly moved around to his office chair, waiting for the lead agent to take a seat before sitting down himself. Interlocking his hands in front of him on the desk he looked across that the woman waiting expectantly across from him before he cleared his throat and began his report. "Agent Blye is currently stable and in satisfactory condition. She regained consciousness shortly after she collapsed. We have run several tests and we have found traces of a yet unidentified drug in Agent Blye's drug screen test. We also found a recent needle puncture mark in the crook of her right arm. We also discovered fresh bruising on her arm that indicates to us that the arm was held down while she was injected, as well as fresh bruising and abrasions around both her wrists…"

"Which would indicate that she was restrained." Hetty frowned as she remembered wondering, earlier in the morning, why Kensi had been wearing a light, long sleeved blouse despite the fact it was predicted to be a very warm and humid day. Looking back across at the doctor, she asked, "Do you know how long the drug has been in her system or how long before we know what the drug is?"

"By the bruises that are starting to show on her wrists, I would hazard a guess that she was injected with the drug sometime early this morning." the doctor told the older woman, "There is also some light bruising on her face which she covered up with make-up."

"Is the facial bruising also recent?" Hetty's frown deepened, as a small wave of anger rippled through her soul for not noticing anything amiss with her agent earlier in the morning.

"I would say they were inflicted at the same time as her other injuries." the doctor nodded before he added, "Agent Blye was quite distressed over the shooting of her partner after she regained consciousness, so I have given her a light sedative and would like to keep her under observation until the drug is out of her system."

"Of course." Hetty agreed, "When can I speak with her?"

"She will probably sleep for two or three hours." the doctor warned Hetty.

Hetty nodded as she rose from her chair. "Please give me a call when she wakes up."

"Of course." the doctor replied as he rose from his seat as he followed the NCIS lead agent from the office.

Watching Hetty emerge from the office, G and Sam hurried along the corridor to join her.

"How is she?" G asked worriedly, as he glanced across the curtained off cubicle where the medical staff had rushed Kensi into after she had collapsed before he returned his attention back to Hetty.

"The doctor says Agent Blye is stable and in a satisfactory condition," Hetty began as she led her two agents out of the ER, "but they have found an as yet unidentified drug in her system."

"So she was drugged in the restaurant." G breathed, unsurprised by the medical findings.

"Probably something slipped into her food or drink while they were eating." Sam nodded his agreement.

"No, Agent Blye was not drugged not in the restaurant," Hetty quickly corrected them as they reached the hospital entrance doors. "The doctors also found bruises that they believe she suffered earlier this morning, which indicate that she was restrained and held down when she was injected. She has also suffered bruising to her face and her torso which indicate that she put up a fight before being restrained."

The two men stopped walking and stared at Hetty.

"So the doctors believe that Kensi was restrained and injected with something earlier this morning." G frowned as he glanced in disbelief across over Hetty's head at Sam before he returned his attention back to the smaller woman who was standing between them as the questions both he and Sam were asking themselves tumbled out. "Where was she attacked? Why didn't we notice any bruises? Why didn't she say something?"

"And why didn't Deeks say something?" Sam demanded as he looked back at the hospital doors.

"The answers to those questions if what you both are going to find out, Gentlemen." Hetty ordered softly, "I would like you both to guard both Agent Blye and Detective Deeks until I can arrange for LAPD officers to take over the guard duties. Then Agent Callen, I would like you to go and search Agent Blye's apartment. Look for anything that could tell us what she was injected with and by whom. Agent Henna I would like you to track all her movements for the last twelve hours, including the shooting at the restaurant. See if Mr. Beal can find any cameras that may show us what precisely what happened when she shot Detective Deeks."

"Where will you be?" G asked.

"I have people to talk to." Hetty answered succinctly before she turned and hurried through the doors.

NCIS LA … NCIS LA … NCIS LA

AN- Thank you so much to everyone who has read, reviewed, faved and followed this story. I am sorry I have not thanked you all privately. I have been asked in the reviews about when this story is set, this story is set early in the show, about the third season. I have just discovered the show and fell in love with it.


	4. Chapter 4

Kneeling down as he reached Kensi's front door, Callen carefully examined the keyhole. Minute scratches around the hole told him what he wanted to know. The lock had been jimmied and by the look of the marks he was studying, only recently. Rising back to his feet, he pulled out his keys, carefully searching for the key he wanted before he inserted it into the lock and opened the door.

Stepping into the apartment, Callen stopped as he heard a soft sound coming from the bedroom. Drawing his gun, he silently but swiftly moved across to the partially closed bedroom door. Raising his foot, he kicked it open as he yelled, "NCIS!" and stepped into the room, his gun ready to take out any threats that may be waiting for him. He sighed when he found the room empty and saw the open window, with the curtain fluttering in the breeze. Hurrying across, he glanced outside just in time to see a figure dressed in dark clothing run across the street and climb into a waiting car before being driven away at speed.

Allowing his breath to rush out in a loud sigh, he reholstered his gun as he turned and slowly looked around. It was evident that he had just interrupted someone in the process of cleaning up, the faint smell of bleach, the sheets missing from the bed and the still damp marks on the bedside table and bed head that indicated that someone had just wiped them down to get rid of any fingerprints told Callen just how thorough whoever was behind this was.

NCIS LA...NCIS LA...NCIS LA

Joining Sam, Nel and Eric in front of the large computer screen, Callen silently watched the video footage of Kensi and Deeks leaving the small eatery, Deeks jokingly enjoyed referring to as his favorite restaurant, and walk towards their car. There appeared to be no tension between the two of them as they emerged from the restaurant, in fact, the video showed Kensi laughing at something her partner had just said. The four of them watched in silence as the video showed Kensi suddenly pause, her face suddenly morphing into a mask of anger as she drew her gun, aiming it at Deeks's back. Nel was unable to stop a small shocked gasp as she watched as Kensi shot her partner in the back as he walked towards their car. No one spoke as they watched Deeks slowly turn back to look at Kensi, the front of his shirt bloody and his shock clearly evident on his face before he tumbled to the ground as Kensi stared at her critically wounded partner before she looked down in confusion at the gun she still held in her hand.

"Well, it happened exactly how Kensi told us it did." Sam murmured as he looked across at his partner and added, "We may also have a possible suspect who could have drugged Kensi in her apartment last night." Nodding at Eric to play the video footage from the CCTV security cameras that captured the outside Kensi's apartment as he told G about what they had found on the footage. "I checked Kensi's movements for the twelve hours before the shooting, she left here with Deeks a little after midnight. They had been working together to complete their report on the Tanner case. He dropped her off outside her apartment at twelve – thirty." G watched the grainy images on the screen as it showed Deeks's car pull up outside the apartment and Kensi emerge a couple of minutes later before entering her apartment as Deeks drove away.

Turning back to Eric, Sam ordered softly, "Fast forward it to three- twenty."

Tapping a key to fast forward the video, Eric waited as the video fast forwarded to the requested time before he tapped a second key and slowed the video instantly to normal speed. G watched the screen as a familiar looking car glided past the apartment before stopping in the shadows on the other side of the road.

"Hold it." G frowned as he stepped closer to the screen before he turned and looked back at Eric as he commanded, "Zoom a bit closer in on that car."

"Recognize the car, G?" Sam asked, frowning.

Callen nodded, "Yeah. There were indications that someone had picked the lock on Kensi's front door, and when I went in I heard someone in the bedroom. But by the time I got to the bedroom, they were gone. Climbed out of the window. By the time I got to the window I saw a man in dark clothing run across the road and climb into a car that was waiting for him." Pointing at the car on the screen, Callen continued, "This car. Can you zoom in on the number plate?"

"Already tried, but either he blacked out the plates or the plates were missing." Sam told his partner before asking. "Why would he take the risk to return to the scene?'

"Cleaning up." G answered succinctly, nodding for Eric to continue the video as he added, "Kensi's place was wiped clean with bleach."

Turning back to the screen he watched as a minute later two men dressed in dark clothing and carrying small rucksacks emerged from the car and hurried across the road to Kensi's apartment. The four NCIS colleagues watched as one of the men quickly picked the lock of Kensi's apartment door, before they opened it and disappeared inside. A minute later, the light in the young NCIS agent's bedroom was switched on. It felt like hours to the four people watching the video before the light was switched off again and the two men emerged from the apartment and quickly crossed the road back to their car before speeding off. The rest of the video showed no more suspicious behavior for the rest of the night before showing Deeks arrival to pick Kensi up at six-thirty. It was clear on the video; the young woman gave no indications that anything had happened or she was upset as she left the apartment.

Callen frowned as Eric hit the stop key and he found himself staring at the blank screen. "I don't get it. Why didn't Kensi call for help after she was attacked? Or say something to either Deeks or us?"

It was a question both agents had asked each other and themselves over and over since they had discovered Kensi had been held down and drugged.

"I think I can answer that," Eric told them as he swiveled his chair around to face them. "Hetty had a sample of Kensi's blood sent to the crime lab for analysis. They identified the unidentified drug in her system as Parahydroxadine."

"Parahydroxadine?"

"It's an experimental mind control drug that was being developed by the CIA two years ago. It was being trialed as a form of chemical mind control and at first was seen as a success. The drug caused the test subjects to be easily manipulated and controlled completely by suggestion. The experiments showed that with the use of the drug, test subjects were able to be manipulated by suggestion to suffer from complete memory loss of interrogation sessions the test subjects had been forced to endure, and test subjects even performed tasks that went against their own moral beliefs and that in normal circumstances they would find abhorrent to do." Eric told them as he brought several up several videos of men on the screen who were given injections, of what the four people watching assumed to be the drug Parahydroxadine, before were carrying out various softly spoken orders they had just been given."

"So it's possible that Kensi was injected with the drug against her will and then instructed to forget the incident."

"It would explain why she never told anyone about what happened." G murmured.

Sam nodded before he asked, "But what about the bruises?"

"If she was told to forget being injected she might have also been instructed to cover up the bruises and not mention them to anyone…"

"Hang on guys, there's more." Nel interrupted their theorizing reluctantly, waiting until she had their complete attention before she softly continued, "Although the drug was deemed a complete success in manipulating and controlling the test subject's behavior, the development of the drug was stopped two years ago due to the extreme toxicity and unpredictability of the drug."

"What do you mean by unpredictability?" Callen frowned.

"The drug caused sudden bouts of extreme aggression, anger, and homicidal rage. Three of the test subjects murdered family members or friends for no apparent reasons while in these rages and had absolutely no memory of doing so afterward. They were trying to counteract these side effects…" Nel paused and swallowed hard as she looked up at the images of the test subjects on the screen and softly added, "But the experiments were finally halted and the experiment was deemed a failure after several of the test subjects committed suicide within seventy - two hours of being given the drug and the remaining test subjects were all later admitted to various psychiatric facilities around the country suffering from drug psychosis or paranoid schizophrenia."

"So Kensi may still be in danger?" Callen asked, shocked at the information.

"She may well still be a danger to herself or to others around her." Hetty answered as she entered the room. "I am about to call her doctors and tell them what we have discovered about the drug she was given and have them take the appropriate precautions."

"But why Kensi?"

"And who is behind it?"

"That, gentlemen, is what I want you to find out. I spoke to my contact in the CIA who reluctantly admitted that after the program was shut down that they believe several of the vials of the drug that were destined to be destroyed may have disappeared. So, I want to know who is behind this and why? We also need to know if Agent Blye has been given any orders to carry out and if she has just what those orders are and we need to know that information fast." Hetty softly ordered Callen and Sam, who nodded and headed towards the door. Turning back to Nel and Eric, Hetty added. "And I need the two of you to find out just who was actually involved in the development of this drug. I want to know if it's at all possible to produce an antidote to it and if it is, I want the antidote produced immediately."

"Will do." Eric answered as he and Nel turned back to their computers.

NCIS LA...NCIS LA...NCIS LA

Swallowing down the sob that threatened to escape, Kensi stood at the door to her partner's ICU room. She had managed to convince the LAPD officer guarding her, after she had awoken, to escort her to Deeks's room. Now standing in the doorway, she wondered if he would even want her here after what she had done.

Biting her lip, she forced herself to slowly walk into the room, pulling the drip stand, that the drip still inserted in her arm was hanging from, along behind her. She stopped as she reached the side of the bed and a soft agonized moan of guilt and fear escaped from her throat as she looked down at Deeks's ashen face, and the white bandages that encircled his chest. Her partner looked like he was hovering on the brink of death, she had never seen him so still before. The soft beeps of the heart monitor and the soft hush whooshing sounds of the ventilator was the only sound in the room as he tears began to fall and she reached for Deeks's still hand. Squeezing it as the tears ran freely down her face as the memory of what she had done, slammed back into her mind as she stared down at her partner and the man who was fast becoming the most important person in her life. Brushing back Deeks damp unruly hair, she was unable to stop the sob as she whispered, "Oh God, Deeks, I'm so sorry. I…I'm sorry. Please, Marty, fight, don't die on me."


End file.
